


Wait It Out

by PanicFOB



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:41:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21780004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PanicFOB/pseuds/PanicFOB
Summary: After a botched mission, you make it to the safe house where Bucky was supposed to meet you.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 69





	Wait It Out

_If anything goes south, get to the safe house._

You’d almost laughed it off. There hadn’t been a botched mission in two years. The final victory against Thanos that Tony Stark had sacrificed his life for had seemed to linger over everything the remaining Avengers did. They couldn’t lose. Couldn’t die. And neither could they give up on fighting the good fight. It was as if they’d been in a grace period, living on luck and the afterglow of defeating the powerful being.

It seemed that the grace period was finally over.

##  *******

_If we get separated, don’t panic._

You hadn’t been with the team during the blip. It was only after half the population had returned, Tony had died, and Steve had disappeared that you found your way to them. They had been exhausted, every last one of them. Depleted in numbers, looking for new recruits. So, you had joined up.

Bucky had been your mentor. He taught you everything that you knew.

##  *******

_If you make it to the safe house, stay put._

And put you shall stay. Because Bucky ordered it.

It didn’t matter that you had been here for a week now with no contact from anyone else on the team. It didn’t matter that you had no idea if any of the others were alive, if Bucky was alive. Things had gone south, the team had been separated, you hadn’t panicked, and you’d made it to the safe house. All that was left to do was wait it out until Bucky made it here.

But it was taking him longer than expected.

##  *******

_Rash actions are your worst enemy on a mission. Steve could have died a thousand times over from jumping into things without thinking them through. Don’t be like that punk._

Bucky was your instructor. Your Sergeant. You followed his orders without question. Always.

A suppressed part of you knew there was another reason why you respected the man so intensely, why you hung onto every word that came out of his beautiful, bearded mouth. A part of you that you usually ignored knew exactly why you just might go crazy from worry if you didn’t hear from him soon and get confirmation that he was alive.

##  *******

_You’ll know the safe house when you see it. Five miles up a snowy mountain. A single trail on foot. No other cabins around for miles. You’ll be safe there._

The trail had been hidden under two feet of snow. You’d barely survived the trek up here as you used a satellite GPS to take you to the coordinates Bucky had instructed you to memorize. When you had come across it, after grueling hours in the cold, the picturesque nature of it made all your troubles disappear for a moment. You typed in a code on a security panel at the front door, another thing Bucky had insisted you memorize.

Logs were collected. A fire was lit. The food storage was examined. And still, you waited. Seven days had gone by, you spend most of it trying not to panic, but not being able to focus on anything other than the terrifying thoughts of Bucky and the rest of the team being gone forever.

##  *******

_I know things usually go perfectly for us, but it’s always good to have a backup plan._

There were some old books that you tried to distract yourself with as the snow came down outside the windows harder than ever. You couldn’t remember any of the words on any of the pages. Your eyes would simply glaze over as you attempted to read. Your efforts to refocus your mind with some Christmas puzzles were unsuccessful as well. Mostly, you just sat on the couch, a warm blanket covering your lap, and stared into the fire that you worked overtime to keep going.

You had enough food to make it two months here. If Bucky hadn’t arrived by then, you would know he’d never come. And then you would wait it out no longer.

##  *******

_I’ll come find you as soon as I can. That’s why you have to get to the cabin: so I know exactly where you’ll be._

By two weeks, you were so damn sick of waiting. But still, you did it, because that’s what Bucky had asked of you. The past couple of years of your life had become consumed by waiting for this man. Waiting for him to approve you as combat-ready. Waiting for him to let you handle things on your own in the field. Waiting for him to be proud of you. Waiting for him to see you in a different light. Waiting for him to love you.

Waiting for him to find you here. Waiting for him to be alive.

##  *******

_I’ll get to you no matter what. I promise._

You wondered what it was like in the old days, when Tony’s money and tech could get them out of any bind. When there had been a surplus of quinjets and easy transports to safety. Before Thanos had destroyed the compound and the Avengers were left without an official home-base.

Things weren’t so organized now. The team had to rely on their wits and survival skills on missions over expecting an easy escape hatch. That’s why safe houses like this existed in nearly every country that you operated in. If the enemy wasn’t defeated, and the team became outmanned, there needed to be safe retreats.

This cabin on a snowy mountain in Quebec was one of hundreds of places your teammates could have escaped to after the mission was botched, but this is the one Bucky insisted be the rendezvous point.

##  *******

_I worry about you constantly._

It was the last thing he had said to you before the team infiltrated the hideout. Now, you turned the sentence over and over in your head. Trying to decide what he had meant when he said it. Obsessing over the way he had looked into your eyes so intensely and punctuated every word with care. Attempting not to let yourself imagine that it had meant more than what it actually did.

You stood quickly as the faint sound of boots crunching in the snow piqued your ears. The gun, which had been sitting on the end table, was in your hand in an instant. You crept to the corner just around from the entryway, holding your breath, waiting to see who was approaching the cabin. Would they enter through the security panel, or would they bust down the door? This was your only way to determine if they were friend or foe.

And then you heard the beeping outside as someone typed in a code. The click of bolts unlocking. The whine as the door swung open.

You were throwing your arms around him as soon as you spotted the tale-tell strand of dark hair hanging free from his bun.

“Oh, Bucky. I was so scared you wouldn’t come,” you whispered as his arms wrapped around you to return the embrace.

“I promised I would.”

“I know… but I worry about you constantly, Bucky.”

He leaned back a bit to get a good look at you. “That’s my line, doll.”

“And it was a pretty great line, so I stole it,” you informed him with a smirk.

There was merriment in his steel eyes for a moment, but then they turned serious, hard as the metal that they resembled. “When I said that… well, I wasn’t just meaning as your Sergeant.”

You remained silent, letting him say the words. Letting him come to you. Waiting it out as he slowly approached the line you’d been desperate to cross.

“I care about you as so much more than that. More than a teammate. More than a friend. More than—”

You cut him off with a kiss, feeling the need to wait no longer.


End file.
